The Car and Truck Fleet and Leasing Management Magazine

GM's Fuel Cell System Shrinks in Size, Cost

BURBANK, CA - General Motors Co. said it is testing a production-intent hydrogen fuel cell system that can be packaged in the space of a traditional four-cylinder engine and be ready for commercial production in 2015.

The system is half the size, 220 pounds lighter and uses about a third of the platinum of the system in the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell electric vehicles used in Project Driveway.

The Project Driveway market test and demonstration fleet of fuel cell electric vehicles began in late 2007 and has amassed nearly 1.3 million miles of everyday driving in cities around the world.

"Our learning from Project Driveway has been tremendous and these vehicles have been very important to our program," Charles Freese, executive director of GM's global fuel cell activities, told reporters Tuesday at a news briefing on GM's fuel cell progress. "The 30 months we committed to the demonstration are winding down, but we will keep upgrades of these vehicles running and will continue learning from them while we focus efforts on the production-intent program for 2015."